Aspect ratio for semiconductor on insulator

ABSTRACT

A method comprises forming one or more fins in a first region on an insulated substrate. The method also comprises forming one or more fins formed in a second region on the insulated substrate. The insulated substrate comprising a silicon substrate, and an insulator layer deposited on the silicon substrate. The one or more fins in the first region comprising a first material layer deposited on the insulator layer. The one or more fins in the second region comprising a second material layer deposited on the insulator layer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/725,400, filed on May 29, 2015, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

The present application relates to the field of semiconductor devicemanufacturing and, more particularly, to forming semiconductor oninsulator.

BACKGROUND

Field effect transistors (FETs), which are considered semiconductordevices, have been used to make application specific integrated circuit(ASIC) devices, microprocessor devices, etc. Semiconductor devices canbe made from various materials, for example, group IV semiconductormaterials (e.g., silicon (Si)) and group III-V semiconductors materials(e.g., Germanium (Ge)). Combining the different groups of semiconductormaterials in semiconductor structures provides a range of performancebenefits.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for formingsemiconductors on an insulator.

For example, in one embodiment, a method comprises forming one or morefins in a first region on an insulated substrate. The method alsocomprises forming one or more fins formed in a second region on theinsulated substrate. The insulated substrate comprising a siliconsubstrate, and an insulator layer deposited on the silicon substrate.The one or more fins in the first region comprising a first materiallayer deposited on the insulator layer. The one or more fins in thesecond region comprising a second material layer deposited on theinsulator layer. In another example, a semiconductor structure is formedaccording to the above method. In a further example, an integratedcircuit comprising one or more semiconductor structures is formedaccording to the above method.

Advantageously, embodiments of the invention provide methods of formingfin field effect transistors (finFETS) on insulator using an AspectRatio Trapping (ART) technique.

These and other features, objects and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptionof illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connectionwith the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of a silicon substrate having an oxidelayer and a silicon/silicon germanium (Si/SiGe) layer deposited thereon,according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of the structure of FIG. 1 after a hardmask is deposited over the Si/SiGe layer, according to an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a side view of the device of FIG. 2 after patterningand etching a III-V region, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the device of FIG. 3 after depositingand planarizing an oxide layer in the III-V region, according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of the device of FIG. 4 after recessingthe oxide and depositing nitride in the III-V region, according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of the device of FIG. 5 after depositingan oxide hard mask, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a side view of the device of FIG. 6 after patterningfins on the III-V region, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a side view of the device of FIG. 7 after etchingnitride and oxide in the III-V region, according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a side view of the device of FIG. 8 afterundercutting the nitride in each of the fins in the III-V region,according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 illustrates a side view of the device of FIG. 9 after growth ofgroup III-V material in the III-V region, according to an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates a side view of the device of FIG. 10 after recessingthe group III-V material, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates a side view of the device of FIG. 11 after removingoxide and nitride from the fins in the III-V region, according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates a side view of the device of FIG. 12 afterpatterning fins outside the III-V region, according to an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 14 illustrates a side view of the device of FIG. 13 afterdepositing shallow trench isolation (STI) insulator in the III-V region,according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Illustrative embodiments of the invention will be described herein withreference to particular methods and apparatus. It is to be appreciated,however, that the invention is not limited to the specific methods andapparatus illustratively shown and described herein. Rather, embodimentsof the invention are directed more broadly to techniques for generatingfinFETs on insulator. Moreover, it will become apparent to those skilledin the art given the teachings herein that numerous modifications can bemade to the embodiments shown that are within the scope of the presentinvention. That is, no limitations with respect to the specificembodiments described herein are intended or should be inferred.

A silicon on insulator (SOI) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effecttransistor (MOSFET) is a semiconductor device in which a semiconductorlayer, such as silicon or silicon germanium is formed on an insulatorlayer, which may be silicon dioxide and referred to as a “buried oxidelayer”, formed in a semiconductor substrate. SOI MOSFET devices aresuitable for use in a variety of contexts, including but not limited to,computing devices, mobile devices, servers, etc. However, SOI wafer ismore expensive than bulk wafer. Furthermore, growing other non-siliconsemiconductors, such as group III-V semiconductors, on SOI may sufferfrom issues arising from lattice mismatch, a problem that arises whenlayering and combining various semiconductor materials. Differentsemiconductor materials used for forming the semiconductor structure mayhave varying lattice constants. Lattice mismatch occurs where twomaterials featuring different lattice constants are brought together bydeposition of one material on top of another. Thus, when growing asemiconductor material with a second lattice constant on a semiconductormaterial with a first lattice constant, defects may occur, which mayrender the semiconductor device unusable if the defects are severe.

Various embodiments described herein use techniques for addressing andovercoming one or more of the issues arising from lattice mismatch. Insome embodiments, the ART technique is utilized for addressing andovercoming one or more of the issues arising from lattice mismatch. InART, a trench is made with a high enough aspect ratio (e.g., the ratioof the trench width to trench height) such that the defects terminate onthe sidewall of the trench and any layer above the termination is defectfree. The use of ART techniques for SOI devices, however, ischallenging. ART uses a seed layer of a single crystal semiconductor(e.g., single crystal silicon). Thus, growing the trenches used for ARTon SOI is difficult. Embodiments provide various techniques whichfacilitate the use of ART for SOI devices.

One or more embodiments provide for a semiconductor structure comprisingfinFETs on insulator formed with ART and a method of making thereof.

An illustrative embodiment for forming a semiconductor structurecomprising finFET on insulator will be described below with reference toFIGS. 1-14. Each of the structures 100 to 1400 illustrate steps whichmay be used in the process of forming a finFET on insulatorsemiconductor device.

FIG. 1 is a side view, illustrating formation of the semiconductorstructure 100, which includes a silicon (Si) substrate 102, a buriedoxide layer 104 and a silicon or silicon germanium (Si/SiGe) layer 106.In an illustrative embodiment, the buried oxide layer 104 may have athickness of approximately 100 nm and the Si/SiGe layer may have athickness of approximately 50 nm. However, other suitable thicknessesmay be used in alternative embodiments of the invention. In otherembodiments, various other materials may be used in place of Si andSi/SiGe for layers 102 and 106, including but not limited to other groupIV elements or combinations thereof.

FIG. 2 depicts a side view of the next step in forming the semiconductordevice. As shown, a nitride hard mask (HM) 108 is formed over theSi/SiGe layer 106 of structure 100 resulting in structure 200. In anillustrative embodiment, the nitride HM layer 108 may have a thicknessof approximately 50 nm, although other thicknesses may be contemplated.The nitride HM layer 108 may initially be formed over the entire Si/SiGelayer 106, and selectively removed in the region or regions in which oneor more group III-V finFETs are to be formed. It should be noted that inother embodiments, other materials may also be used in forming thefinFETs instead of group III-V compounds, e.g., other group IV material.

As shown in FIG. 3, which depicts a side view of structure 300, theregion 110 (shown in dashed lines) in which the group III-V finFETs oninsulator are to be formed has been etched to a depth below the buriedoxide layer 104 into Si substrate 102. This may be done by, for example,a selective etch process. In an illustrative embodiment, the depth ofthe etch may be from 0.5 μm to 2 μm deep from top of substrate 102,although other suitable depths may be used in alternative embodiments ofthe invention.

In the following step, as shown in the side view of structure 400 inFIG. 4, oxide 114 is deposited into the region 110 left open by the etchprocess shown in FIG. 3. Oxide 114 is then planarized to the top surfaceof the nitride HM 108.

In the next step, as shown in the side view of structure 500 in FIG. 5,oxide 114 is recessed to the level of oxide layer 104. Nitride layer 108is removed. Then a nitride layer 118 is deposited onto oxide layer 114and planarized to the Si/SiGe layer 106.

Subsequently, as shown in the side view of structure 600 in FIG. 6, anoxide HM layer 120 is deposited over Si/SiGe layer 106 and nitride layer118.

FIG. 7 shows a side view of structure 700, after fins are patterned inthe group III-V region. Resist mask 128 is formed on oxide HM layer 120.The resist mask 128 is patterned for fin structures, 117-1 . . . 117-n,in the group III-V region only. Each of the fin structures 117-1 . . .117-n may be 20 nm to 40 nm in width, but other width is alsoapplicable. Oxide HM layer 120 is etched in the group III-V regionrespective to the patterned resist mask 128.

FIG. 8 shows a side view of structure 800, after the etched regions ofFIG. 7 are further etched to remove nitride layer 118 and oxide layer114, thereby forming trenches 115-1 . . . 115-n. The resist mask 128 isthen stripped off.

FIG. 9 shows a side view of structure 900 in which nitride layer 118 hasbeen undercut in the regions 140 on both sides of each fin structure117-1 . . . 117-n between oxide layers 114 and 120. Undercutting may beperformed by a suitable method, such as wet etching. In an illustrativeembodiment, the undercut may remove approximately 6 nm from each of thesides of the nitride layer 118. In other embodiments the undercut mayremove between 2 nm and 10 nm from the nitride layer 118. The desiredamount of the undercut depends on a desired size of the fin structurefor a particular application.

FIG. 10 shows a side view of structure 1000 in which group III-Vmaterial 130 is grown and fills the regions left void by the prioretching processes shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, i.e., trenches 115-1 . . .115-n and undercut regions 140. In one embodiment, an ART technique maybe used to grow the III-V material 130. The aspect ratio may be 1:3 orgreater, the aspect ratio being the ratio of the trench width to trenchheight. In one embodiment, the group III-V material 130 may compriseindium phosphide (InP) and/or indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs). Thegrown group III-V material 130 is then planarized to the top surface ofoxide layer 120. As mentioned before, other material such as groupII-VI, or group IV can also be used.

As shown in the side view of structure 1100 in FIG. 11, followingplanarization, the grown group III-V material 130 is etched to recessits level to the level of the top surface of Si substrate 102. Theetching process removes the group III-V material 130 in the verticalplane only, thereby leaving group III-V material 130 alongside nitridematerial 118 in each of the fin structures 117-1 . . . 117-n (i.e.,undercut regions 140 of FIG. 9 filled in by group III-V material 130 asshown in FIG. 10).

FIG. 12 shows a side view of structure 1200, in which the oxide layer120 and nitride layer 118 are removed from fin structures 117-1 . . .117-n, leaving fin structures comprising group III-V material 130 in theIII-V region. FIG. 13 shows a side view of structure 1300, in whichfurther processing is performed using, for example, a patterned resistmask, to pattern the Si/SiGe layer 106 into fin structures 119-1 . . .119-m.

As shown in structure 1400 of FIG. 14, the spaces above the recessedIII-V material 130 are deposited with a shallow trench isolation (STI)insulator 124 and then planarized to the top surface of oxide 104 andoxide 114. Suitable STI insulators may be, for example, an oxide or oneor more dielectric materials such as silicon dioxide, silicon boronnitride, silicon nitride or other insulator. While not shown, thestructure 1400 may be further processed to form finFETs on insulator(e.g., formation of a gate stack, source/drain regions, etc.).

Various structures described above may be implemented in integratedcircuits. The resulting integrated circuit chips can be distributed bythe fabricator in raw wafer form (that is, as a single wafer that hasmultiple unpackaged chips), as a bare die, or in a packaged form. In thelatter case the chip is mounted in a single chip package (such as aplastic carrier, with leads that are affixed to a motherboard or otherhigher level carrier) or in a multichip package (such as a ceramiccarrier that has either or both surface interconnections or buriedinterconnections). In any case the chip is then integrated with otherchips, discrete circuit elements, and/or other signal processing devicesas part of either (a) an intermediate product, such as a motherboard, or(b) an end product. The end product can be any product that includesintegrated circuit chips, ranging from toys and other low-endapplications to advanced computer products having a display, a keyboardor other input device, and a central processor.

It will be appreciated and should be understood that the exemplaryembodiments of the invention described above can be implemented in anumber of different fashions. Given the teachings of the inventionprovided herein, one of ordinary skill in the related art will be ableto contemplate other implementations of the invention. Althoughillustrative embodiments of the present invention have been describedherein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to those preciseembodiments, and that various other changes and modifications may bemade by one skilled in art without departing from the scope or spirit ofthe invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor structure, comprising: a firstset of one or more fins formed in a first region on an insulatedsubstrate; and a second set of one or more fins formed in a secondregion on the insulated substrate; wherein the insulated substratecomprises: a silicon substrate; and an insulator layer deposited on thesilicon substrate; wherein the a first set of one or more fins in thefirst region comprises a first material layer deposited on the insulatorlayer; and wherein the second set of one or more fins in the secondregion comprises a second material layer deposited on the insulatorlayer.
 2. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the insulatorlayer is a buried oxide deposited on the silicon substrate in the firstand second regions.
 3. The semiconductor structure of claim 2, whereinthe first material layer is a group III-V material.
 4. The semiconductorstructure of claim 3, wherein the second material layer is a group IVmaterial layer deposited on the buried oxide in the first and secondregions.
 5. The semiconductor structure of claim 4, wherein a hard mask(HM) layer is deposited on the group IV material layer.
 6. Thesemiconductor structure of claim 5, wherein the first region is etchedto remove the group IV material layer and the buried oxide insulatorlayer, and the silicon substrate is recessed to a first depth.
 7. Thesemiconductor structure of claim 6, wherein an oxide layer is depositedon the silicon substrate in the first region, the oxide layer planarizedto the HM in the second region.
 8. The semiconductor structure of claim7, wherein the oxide layer in the first region is recessed and a nitridelayer is deposited thereon.
 9. The semiconductor structure of claim 8,wherein one or more fins are patterned in the first region.
 10. Thesemiconductor structure of claim 9, wherein the nitride and oxide layersin the first region are etched to form the one or more fins comprisingthe oxide layer and the nitride layer.
 11. The semiconductor structureof claim 10, wherein the nitride layer in the one or more fins isundercut on both sides of each of the one or more fins, the undercutbeing in a range between 2 μm and 10 μm.
 12. The semiconductor structureof claim 11, wherein undercutting is performed using a wet-etch process.13. The semiconductor structure of claim 11, wherein the group III-Vmaterial is grown in the first region according to an Aspect RatioTrapping technique.
 14. The semiconductor structure of claim 13 whereinthe group III-V material is recessed to a level substantially equal tothe top surface of the silicon substrate in the second region, andwherein the group III-V material remains proximate to the undercutnitride.
 15. The semiconductor structure of claim 14, wherein the oxidelayer and the nitride layer are removed leaving one or more finscomprising group III-V material in the first region.
 16. Thesemiconductor structure of claim 15, wherein one or more fins arepatterned in the group IV material layer of the second region.
 17. Thesemiconductor structure of claim 16, wherein a shallow trench isolation(STI) insulator is deposited and planarized to the oxide layer of thesecond region.
 18. The semiconductor structure of claim 16, wherein theSTI insulator is oxide.
 19. An integrated circuit, comprising: one ormore semiconductor structures, wherein each of the one or moresemiconductor structures comprise: a first set of one or more finsformed in a first region on an insulated substrate; and a second set ofone or more fins formed in a second region on the insulated substrate;wherein the insulated substrate comprises: a silicon substrate; and aninsulator layer deposited on the silicon substrate; wherein the firstset of one or more fins in the first region comprises a first materiallayer deposited on the insulator layer; wherein the second set of one ormore fins in the second region comprises a second material layerdeposited on the insulator layer; wherein the insulator layer is aburied oxide deposited on the silicon substrate in the first and secondregions; and wherein the first material layer is a group III-V material.